Silent Key Callsign Harvesting

In addition to the callsigns that appear to be currently available according to FCC records, there are
callsigns that can be made available because the holder had died, pursuant to FCC rules,
US Title 47 CFR §1.948(g): "Amateur station call signs assigned to the station of a deceased licensee
shall be available for reassignment pursuant to § 97.19 of this chapter." Such callsigns can be
canceled and then applied for. The following steps are recommended for obtaining such callsigns:

Search QRZ.com or other sites which show
birthdates of amateurs, and research those who were born before some date (e.g., 1930). Note
that the FCC does not currently release the birthdates (or Social Security Numbers) of amateurs.
However, the FCC used to release birthdate information in the past, and some web sites have
retained that information and made it available in their online databases. I don't publish
birthdates on this site, for privacy and identity theft considerations.

Other possible sites are state legal records (click on the appropriate state on
this map, and look under state records of
births and deaths). Note that some states charge a fee for searching for and/or providing death
records.

Another source is the
Obituary Database and other similar
sites (search
for other obituary sites), which can lead you to
the newspaper obituary sites (many papers have online obituary sections) for the city of last
residence.

Sometimes, just a search on
for the person's name can reveal death information.

Please cancel the Amateur Radio license of
(callsign), (full name),
who died on (date of death).
A copy of the (whatever your proof
of death is) is attached, showing the date of death.

FCC System

Universal Licensing System (ULS)

Radio Service

HA - Amateur

On the FCC form, click on the
to see the list of Acceptable Digital Formats, and then
after Would you like to attach supporting file(s)?, click on the
Add Attachment(s) link to attach your supporting documentation in one of
those formats. To send an attachment that is an image of a web page:

Get the desired web page displayed on the screen.

Do a Shift-PrtSc (which captures the entire screen into the clipboard).

Open one of the following imaging programs:

Microsoft Paint (free w/ every version of Windows).

Microsoft Imaging (free w/ Windows 2000).

Adobe PhotoShop (or any of its cousins).

Jasc PaintShop Pro.

Use Ctrl-V to paste the image from the clipboard into the imaging program.

Crop the image if desired.

Save the image in one of the approved formats listed for
Acceptable Digital Formats. I would suggest JPEG, PNG,
or GIF if the image program you use supports it, as these formats provide good compression
and can reduce the time to upload the image to the FCC.

By US Postal Service mail, or by FAX to 717-338-2850 717-338-2690; here is
the suggested content:

Please cancel the Amateur Radio license of
(callsign), (full name),
who died on (date of death). A copy of the
(whatever your proof of death is) is
attached, showing the date of death.

Sincerely, (your signature)

Wait until the FCC cancels the callsign. DO NOT call the FCC to find out about when they
will cancel the callsign! The relatively prompt cancellation processing they do is a favor they
do the amateur radio community; please don't abuse it by calling them. Generally, the FCC cancels
a callsign within one to two weeks after your request, although it is not uncommon to happen on the
same day.

Wait another 30 days after the effective date of the cancellation.

Make sure that TWO YEARS AND ONE DAY have elapsed since the date of death, and then file
your application.

For further help, or if you have any problems or suggestions, please use the
AE7Qmessage board.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please use the
AE7Qmessage board.
I've spent a considerable amount of time documenting the vanity application process and publicly
answering very common questions, so that I don't have to repeatedly answer them.
Private messages on these topics will be rebuffed.